Indiana soccer handed No. overall 5 seed in NCAA Tournament

The Indiana men’s soccer team earned the fifth-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament in Monday’s tournament reveal, though it comes with a lot of familiar foes in its region.

The Hoosiers will host the winner of Kentucky against Loyola Chicago in the second round after earning the bye through the first round. The Hoosiers met Kentucky, then ranked No. 16, during the regular season. The two teams played to a 0-0 draw after a pair of extra time periods.

The Wildcats finished 12-4-3 on the season, falling in the Conference USA tournament to top seed Florida Atlantic in the semi-finals, 1-0. A win in the second round would set up a match-up with either Saint Mary’s or the winner of the UC-Santa Barbara-California first-round contest. Saint Mary’s is the No. 12 seed overall in the tournament.

The rest of the bracket is equally unforgiving for the Hoosiers. Wake Forest is the No. 4 seed in the bracket while a pair of familiar names find themselves in the other half as well. Michigan is the No. 13 seed while Maryland will meet Iona in a first round match-up with the winner facing the Deacons. The Wolverines will meet the winner of Notre Dame and Wright State in its second-round match-up.

The top remaining seed will host the Elite Eight contest before heading to the College Cup in North Carolina.